Cost Of Sales Turnover!

Cost Of Sales Turnover!

It’s a universal truth – anyone who has ever thrown a dart knows one thing for sure: Getting that dart to land in the bull’s eye is no simple feat. Fortunately, the consequences are not that serious – perhaps a beer, or some low-level ribbing, are the worst things that could happen if you fail.

In a fast-growing market, such as the technology sector, companies often lose salespeople to competitors, and in some industries, they also lose salespeople to poaching. In a relationship-driven business, such as wealth management, competing firms can poach advisors who have built up a book of business at other firms.

How Costly Is Sales Turnover?

Hiring and retaining sales talent can be a risky proposition. Salespeople are expensive to replace, often costing over $100,000 in lost revenue. With so much riding on the line, you must get it right.

Though it may seem obvious, the razor-thin line between success and failure starts well before the first sales call. It’s during the hiring process that the rubber either hits the road—or drives into a ditch. Think about how you can make your recruiting process as thorough as possible. Don’t be intimidated by a job candidate’s experience or credentials. Research shows that in today's market, an overpriced candidate can be more of a risk than an underperforming one.

The cost of bad hires reverberates long after the errant sales professional has been shown the door. This list includes both tangible and intangible measures, including:

  • Lost opportunity costs
  • Lost time and energy in hiring, training, and managing
  • Customer and prospect alienation
  • Internal morale problems
  • Hiring and re-hiring costs
  • Loss of goodwill in the marketplace
  • Management headaches
  • Loss of resources (travel expenses, equipment, etc.)

Minimising Sales Turnover

So how do you minimise turnover when the very nature of a sales professional means that they’ll be peddling themselves with equivalent fervor?

The key is to use an interviewing process that requires a candidate to demonstrate their mastery of the value-based selling process and not simply be judged on their perceived sales personality fit.

Other qualities that interviewers should be looking for, according to me

  1. Natural inclination toward sales:

Though some people may be able to close a sale, most cannot follow the prospect all the way to the finish line. At best, they lack the clarity of focus or key values necessary for sales success.

2. Soft skills

It’s critical to gauge the candidate’s ability to fit with the company culture. Such?soft skills?include:

  • Self-starting ability
  • Economic drive
  • Intensity
  • Empathy
  • Decision-making ability
  • Willingness to impact the behaviour of others
  • Practical thinking ability
  • Conceptual thinking ability
  • Results orientation
  • Willingness to prospect

3. Value structure

Simply put, how someone perceives the world around them and establishes priorities.

4. Finally, An Ounce of Prevention

Defensive approaches help minimise sales loss across all three phases surrounding a salesperson’s departure. Under certain conditions, two strategies help do this.

A. Before a salesperson leaves, build multiple connections between the customer and the company. Risk of losing customers is especially great when the departing salesperson hopes to bring customers along with them to a new job at a competitor. Take action well before it is expected, such as involving a sales manager or sales specialist with customers in deals that have long sales cycles. Provide customers with valuable resources outside of the sales force, such as providing a customised ordering website or easy access to customer success or technical support personnel.

B. Use CRM systems to capture critical information. Such systems can document customer needs, track the sales pipeline, and help ensure essential information is not lost in transition.

When salespeople leave, opportunities for new sales are lost, and the company risks losing business. Taking defensive steps now can minimise that risk.

MidGear has partnered with several sales organisations in the past, helping them to hire, train, coach, reduce the chances of sales turnover and to create a high-performing sales teams.

If we can help you set your team up for consistent sales success, let’s start a conversation.

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